TDotttt2005

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS OFFICIALLY REPORT TODAY. Maybe we can start making offseason moves now.

OT, clearly, but has she gone condom-only recently?

I need Groceries. I'm only buying groceries if the price makes sense for me. My internal value on groceries is $50 Market dictates that groceries are going for $75 Other people willing to pay $75 buy all the groceries. I starve. -- 2013-14 Blue Jays offseason.

Agreed, the Morosi's, Rosenthal's, etc. and by relation the Wilner's, Davidi's, Nicholson-Ben-Smith-Clark-Trudeau-Harper's and Blairs of the Toronto baseball world are making it seem like the longer the market draws out, the lower the prices are driven down, and at whatever number AA may sign one of these guys at (if at all), they're setting up the narrative of "BOY GENIUS AA PERFECTLY PLAYS THE MARKET...there were a lot of doubters....they were proven wrong...blah blah" But in reality, there was always a floor. The agents know it, players know it, and GM's know it. Its just a game of chicken. People who are saying that prices are tumbling, players better take what they can get, draft pick this, shrinking market that...are sorely misleaded. These teams know what it takes, the players/agents know what it will take. If no one blinks, it will get done at that value. It really isnt as weak as people are letting on.

$9.5M in '14, $9.5M in '15 and $11M option ($4.5M buyout) for '16 is the Arroyo contract. Min $23.5 mil over 2 years. Max $30 mil over 3 years. Does this help value out the Santana/Ubaldo contract at all? ie. if Arroyo is worth $11+ mil a year, Santana/Ubaldo is worth...xxx?

Plan the parade?

From a Jays aspect, theyre taking the similar risk with Rasmus, albeit with 1-year left, not 2 like Heyward. Further from a Jays aspect, how crazy is it that Freeman in his 1st arb year is making more (AAV) than Bautista and almost double what Edwin is making. Shows you just how far salaries have inflated in just 2-3 years.

Agreed. I dont think this says anything about the distributions of income within the sport. The pie is still being cut up in the same proportion, but the reality is that the size of the entire pie is growing. This contract, although I agree is excessive, shows just how much they are projecting that pie to grow.

Not sure if I'm alone in this, but I am floored by the Freeman contract. When you see the long-term, big money deals for guys like Cano, Verlander, Kershaw, etc. you knew it was coming, and its understandable because these guys are the best in the game, and have been so for years, so its not really telling about where salaries are going, as these guys are 'one-off' exceptions. What is very telling to me on where salaries are going is the Freeman contract. $135mil over 8 years, ~$17mil AAV. Not crazy on the surface, but with 3 seasons left of control?? Thinking is when you sign these extensions is that you pay a little more over the arbitration-eligible control years, in return for a projected 'bargain' over the free agent years that the extension covers. If that thinking holds true, how much inflation must the Braves be expecting if they are willing to do this deal???? Freeman asked for 5.5mil in Arb this year. Say he got 5. Say in 2015 he gets 10. Say, somehow, in his last year of arbitration, 2016, he gets 15. 30mil/3 years. Thats 105mil over the 5 remaining 'bought out' free agent years, or $21 mil AAV. Putting the huge performance projection risk aside, if the Braves, who by most accounts are a highly thought of front office, are thinking that $21 million a year for Freeman, starting in 2017, is a bargain, then them and other teams must be thinking that salary inflation is going to kick in BIG TIME. Then when you add in the perceived 'discount' you'd have to apply for performance projection risk...then it really is telling. I've posted before about all of the new TV money that is coming into the sport through RSN's and the national deals...but I think no recent contract is as telling as this Freeman deal, as to how much more money the owners will have to spend in the coming years.

I'm relatively new here, and am unsure of the rules on swearing...but... f*** f*** f***. Ok AA, go out and Get Ubaldo or Santana now.

Per his FB Page Lots of folks keep asking, so I'll just confirm it: I am not returning to Rogers Sportsnet this coming season. Wonder if he wants to focus on writing and national Fox/TBS broadcasts, or if he was forced out? Follows the announcement of Jack Morris returning as the 2nd play by play guy, and I remember last season after Ashby left, Dirk and Wilner were rumored to be in the running. Maybe he was pissed he was passed over? Either way, I enjoyed his realism and no holds barred commentary. The JPA hissy fit was classic.

Its actually kind of complicated, but I think this will answer your questions... Because MLB looks at the financials of only the Blue Jays Baseball Club LP entity, Rogers Sportsnet is forced to pay them a "Market Rate" for the TV rights. Otherwise, for revenue sharing purposes, the Blue Jays could say they only receive $1 for their TV rights, and thus look like they are losing a lot of money, and be able (at least under the old system) to get transfer payments under the revenue sharing agreement. Of course, this is all on paper. In reality, who knows how much they really get. I think they main thing to remember when you are thinking of this, is that you have to look at Rogers as a whole. Not just the Jays, Sportsnet, Fan590, Rogers Cable, etc... In reality, the scheme is brilliant, and very profitable. In looking at the flow of payments: Blue Jays Baseball Club <--Rogers Sportsnet/Fan590 (Rights Fees ie. Money paid by Networks to Teams to be able to show their games) <--Rogers Cable (Carriage Fees ie. Money paid by cable companies to TV Networks to be able to carry their signal) AND Advertising Revenue (Premium Fees are charged for Sports Content these days with the Advent of DVR, as Sports is the only programming that people seem to watch live nowadays. For advertisers, this is key, as viewers cant fast forward past the commercials) So in normal circumstances, the Baseball Team gets money from the Network. The Network gets money from advertisers and cable companies. Cable Companies get money from their subscribers. At each arrow there are revenues and expenses related. In the Rogers case, there really are no expenses (except on paper between Rogers Entities), only Revenue. Its pretty brilliant. Rogers Cable customers pay their Cable Bill, and Advertisers pay to put on commercials, but because Rogers owns the TV and Radio Networks, there are no Carriage Fees. Because Rogers owns the Blue Jays, there are no Rights fees. The Profit Margin taken at each arrow goes directly to Rogers. All in all, Rogers is Banking. And remember, this is before one ticket is purchased. There really is no reason our payroll shouldn't be Yankee/Dodger-esque.

Stroman AND Sanchez AND a 3rd Prospect for Shark??? How does that even make sense when Fister, who is 1 year older, and controllable for the exact same amount of time goes to the Nats for a superutility guy, a young reliever, and a marginal prospect.

Sidenote...have you guys heard about this Cotillo dude? He's like 18 and in high school.

Chris Cotillo ‏@ChrisCotillo 3m Howie Kendrick is NOT involved in the deal, reports @JeffFletcherOCR and @Alden_Gonzalez. Deal is getting close.

If Trumbo can bring 2, low priced, controllable SP's, makes me think that Lind could at least bring 1.

Looks like this is almost done. Law and Olney discussing on twitter with particulars being... White Sox get Adam Eaton Angels get Hector Santiago, Tyler Skaggs Dbacks get Trumbo Angels make out like Bandits here if this goes through. Skaggs and Santiago. Dbacks, wtF?

Talk about a guy in love with his own guys. Hard to believe Gillick has much of a say as RAJ's "Sr. Advisor" with these stupid stupid contracts.

I think we're dreaming about taking on salaries like this. After Arbi with Colby, Cecil, Esmil, and renewed contracts for the pre-arbi guys, we're going to be around 140-150. I personally don't see Rogers going above and beyond that.

Too bad that this is the most substantial move of the Jays offseason.

Ruben Amaro Jr. Is probably the only GM who will trade him for an older player with a worse contract. Heath Bell anyone?

So I guess they have their run producer to hit behind Prince now?

I actually thought he would do better than this. I was thinking 1-year to build his value, but maybe 2-3 mil.

SN 590 The FAN ‏@FAN590 8m The Texas Rangers have signed former Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia to a 1 year, $1 million dollar deal.

This is probably a ceiling to what Rasmus will get in an extension.